Catadioptric imaging systems for digital scanner

ABSTRACT

Projection optical system for forming an image on a substrate and including an illumination relay lens and a projection lens each of which is a catadioptric system. The projection lens may include two portions in optical communication with one another, the first of which is dioptric and the second of which is catadioptric. In a specific case, the projection optical system satisfies 
     
       
         
           
             
               4 
               &lt; 
               
                 
                    
                   
                     β 
                     I 
                   
                    
                 
                 
                    
                   
                     β 
                     T 
                   
                    
                 
               
               &lt; 
               30 
             
             , 
           
         
       
     
     where β I  and β T  are magnifications of the first portion and the overall projection lens. Optionally, the projection lens may be structured to additionally satisfy 
     
       
         
           
             
               6 
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                    
                   
                     β 
                     II 
                   
                    
                 
                 
                    
                   
                     β 
                     T 
                   
                    
                 
               
               &lt; 
               20 
             
             , 
           
         
       
     
     where β II  is a magnification of the second portion. A digital scanner including such projection optical system and operating with UV light having a spectral bandwidth on the order of 1 picometer. Method for forming an image with such projection optical system.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is a divisional from U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 14/559,684 now published as U.S. 2015/0146185, which is acontinuation-in-part from the U.S. patent application Ser. No.14/550,465 and now granted as U.S. Pat. No. 9,638,906, which in turnclaims benefit of and priority from the U.S. Provisional PatentApplication No. 61/907,747. The disclosure of each of theabove-identified provisional application is incorporated herein byreference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates generally to lithographic projectionoptics such as that, which may be used to form an image of a reticle ona semiconductor wafer used in semiconductor manufacturing and, inparticular, to lithographic projection optics that are designed tooperate with numerical aperture equal to or exceeding 1.0.

BACKGROUND

Chromatic aberrations of optical projection systems that utilizerefractive optical elements understandably depend on the bandwidth oflight used for projecting an image of a chosen object and, depending onthe severity of such aberrations, may require complex designs foraberration compensation. It may be necessary to correct chromaticaberrations for broader bandwidth of light depending on the type oflight source.

Attempts were made to address the loss-of-image-contrast problem bydevising such projection systems that employ an SLM and that are builtaround the use of a projection optics containing a catadioptricsub-portion. The proposed optical projection systems can be viewed asincluding two main portions or sub-systems: a first portion structuredas an illumination relay configured to deliver light from a light sourceto the SLM and to perform what in the art is referred to as “fieldframing”, and a second portion configured to project the lightdistribution from the plane of the SLM onto the image plane (the wafer)and referred to as a projection sub-system. While a projectionsub-system was proposed to be structured as a catadioptric system, theillumination relay is kept conventionally dioptric (which causes,notably, an overall optical projection system to be sometimesimpractically long, unless the optical path is intentionally folded withplane mirrors). It is recognized that the existing solutions stillrequire improvements with respect to several operationally importantaspects.

Accordingly, at least the greater-than-acceptable levels of chromaticaberrations in existing projection systems and insufficient reductionratios define a need in redesign of an optical projection system forefficient use in conjunction with a digital scanner.

SUMMARY

Embodiments of the invention provide a projection optical systemconfigured to form an image on a substrate and including a catadioptricillumination relay lens and a catadioptric projection lens. A projectionoptical system may include a spatial light modulator (SLM) positioned toreceive light from the catadioptric illumination relay lens and reflectsaid light towards the catadioptric projection lens.

Embodiments additionally provide a projection optical system for formingan image on an image plane, which system contains a catadioptricprojection lens that includes first and second portions in opticalcommunication with one another; the second portion is configured as acatadioptric optical system designed to form an intermediate opticalimage at a location between the elements of the second portion; thefirst portion is configured as a dioptric optical system disposed totransfer light from the location of the intermediate optical image tothe image plane of the projection optical system to form the image atthe image plane. The catadioptric projection lens is structured tosatisfy an operational condition of

${4 < \frac{\beta_{I}}{\beta_{T}} < 30},$

wherein β_(I) denotes a magnification of the first portion and β_(T)denotes a magnification of the catadioptric projection lens.

Embodiments of the invention additionally provide a projection opticalsystem for forming an image on an image plane. Such system includes acatadioptric projection lens that contains first and second portions inoptical communication with one another, where the second portion isdesigned as a catadioptric optical system configured to form anintermediate optical image at a location between the elements of thesecond portion. At the same time, the first portion is designed as adioptric optical system and is disposed such as to transfer light fromthe location of the intermediate image to the image plane of theprojection optical system. The catadioptric projection lens isconfigured to satisfy an operational condition of

${6 < \frac{\beta_{II}}{\beta_{T}} < 20},$

wherein β_(II) denotes a magnification of the second portion and β_(T)denotes a magnification of the catadioptric projection lens.

Yet another embodiment provides a projection optical system for formingan image on an image plane and including a catadioptric projection lensthe first and second portions of which are in optical communication withone another. Here, the second portion is configured as a catadioptricoptical system that includes first and second negative lenses and aconcave mirror to form an intermediate optical image at a locationbetween the elements of the second portion, while the first portion isconfigured as a dioptric optical system disposed to form an image of theintermediate optical image at the image plane. The first negative lenshas concave and convex surfaces, the concave surface of the firstnegative lens facing away from the concave mirror. A concave surface ofthe second negative lens is immediately adjacent to the concave mirror.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention will be more fully understood by referring to thefollowing Detailed Description in conjunction with the generallynot-to-scale schematic Drawings, of which:

FIG. 1A is a diagram illustrating a conventionally-structured opticalimaging system delivering light from a filed framing plane through anSLM and containing an 0.5× dioptric illuminator relay and a 50×catadioptric projection lens;

FIG. 1B is a diagram illustrating a first portion of the catadioptricprojection lens of the embodiment of FIG. 1A;

FIG. 1C is a diagram illustrating a second portion of the catadioptricprojection lens of the embodiment of FIG. 1A;

FIG. 1D is a diagram providing details of the dioptric illuminator relayof the embodiment of FIG. 1A;

FIG. 2A is a diagram of an optical imaging system according to anembodiment of the invention structured to deliver light from a filedframing plane through an SLM and containing the same 50× catadioptricprojection lens as the embodiment of FIG. 1A but in which theilluminator relay is structured as a 0.5× catadioptric sub-system;

FIG. 2B is a diagram providing details of the catadioptric illuminatorrelay of the embodiment of FIG. 2A;

FIG. 3A is a diagram illustrating a conventionally-structured opticalimaging system delivering light from a filed framing plane through anSLM and containing an 0.5× dioptric illuminator relay and a 200×catadioptric projection lens;

FIG. 3B is a diagram illustrating the catadioptric projection lens ofthe embodiment of FIG. 3A;

FIG. 3C is a diagram providing details of the dioptric illuminator relayof the embodiment of FIG. 3A;

FIG. 4 is a diagram of an optical imaging system according to anembodiment of the invention structured to deliver light from a filedframing plane through an SLM and containing the same 200× catadioptricprojection lens as the embodiment of FIG. 3A but in which theilluminator relay is structured as a 0.5× catadioptric sub-system;

FIG. 5A shows plots representing ray aberrations, within a definedspectral bandwidth around the operating wavelength, at a plane of theSLM (element 24) of the embodiment of FIG. 1A;

FIG. 5B shows plots representing ray aberrations, within a definedspectral bandwidth around the operating wavelength, in the image plane(wafer) of the embodiment of FIG. 1A;

FIG. 6 shows plots representing ray aberrations, within a definedspectral bandwidth around the operating wavelength, in the image plane(wafer) of the embodiment of FIG. 2A;

FIG. 7A shows plots representing ray aberrations, within a definedspectral bandwidth around the operating wavelength, at a plane of theSLM (element 24) of the embodiment of FIG. 3A;

FIG. 7B shows plots representing ray aberrations, within a definedspectral bandwidth around the operating wavelength, in the image plane(wafer) of the embodiment of FIG. 3A;

FIG. 8 shows plots representing ray aberrations, within a definedspectral bandwidth around the operating wavelength, in the image plane(wafer) of the embodiment of FIG. 4;

FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram illustrating a concept of an exposuredevice (digital scanner) utilizing an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 10 is a flow-chart illustrating a method for forming an opticalimage with an embodiment of the projection optical system.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Embodiments of the invention provide a projection optical system forforming an image on a substrate and including a catadioptricillumination relay lens and a catadioptric projection lens. A projectionoptical system may include a spatial light modulator (SLM) positioned toreceive light from the catadioptric illumination relay lens and reflectsaid light towards the catadioptric projection lens. The numericalaperture of the projection optical system is equal to or exceeds 1.0,while the image is formed with a size reduction ratio of at least 50×.When structured to operate at such reduction ratio and in UV lighthaving a central wavelength of about 193.3 nm and a spectral bandwidthof about 1 picometer, the operation of the projection system ischaracterized by a first Strehl ratio at the central wavelength and asecond Strehl ratio across the spectral bandwidth, both of which exceed0.95. When structured to operate at a reduction ratio of 200× and in thesame UV light, both the first and second Strehl ratios exceed 0.98.Embodiments also provide a digital scanner comprising such projectionoptical system.

Embodiments of the present invention provide a solution for the lack ofa hyper-NA (i.e., with NA values exceeding 1.0 and equal to, forexample, 1.35) high reduction ratio (50× to 200×, for example) opticalprojection system configured for efficient use with a digital scanner,which system is operable, for practical lithographic purposes, across aspectral bandwidth of light on the order or 1 pm without substantialloss of image contrast caused by chromatic aberrations. Embodimentsinclude optical projection systems in which both the illumination relaysub-portion and the projection sub-portion are catadioptric.

While one can attempt to argue that the precise and accurate performanceof the projection sub-system (i.e., a sub-system of the overallprojection system that re-images light from the SLM onto the wafer) maybe more critical than that of the illumination relay sub-system becausethe actual semiconductor circuit structure is produced by reimaging theSLM onto the wafer, the design data discussed below prove that continuedutilization of a conventionally dioptrically-designed illumination relaysub-system leads to substantial underperformance of the overallprojection system.

Specifically, a comparison of operational characteristics of (i) aconventional projection system including a 0.5× dioptric illuminationrelay subsystem (interchangeably referred to herein as an “illuminatorrelay”) and a 50× catadioptric projection sub-system (interchangeablyreferred to herein as a “catadioptric projection lens”) and those of(ii) an embodiment of the present invention including a 0.5×catadioptric illuminator relay and a 50× catadioptric projection lens isprovided. Also are analyzed (and compared with one another) operationalcharacteristics of (iii) a conventionally-designed system combining a0.5× dioptric illuminator relay with a 200× catadioptric projection lensand those of (iv) an embodiment of the invention combining the 0.5×dioptric illuminator relay with a 200× catadioptric projection lens.

Several additional notes are in order for ease of understanding of thefollowing disclosure. Tables 1 through 4 in the following discussionsummarize the prescriptions for designs of various optical systems andtheir subsystems that were performed with Code V and that are discussedin reference to corresponding Figures. In these Tables, optical elementsare numbered in a “backward” fashion, starting with the semiconductorwafer (defining the image plane) towards the source of light, whichmakes it easier, as would be appreciated by a skilled artisan, to definethe NA and telecentricity in wafer space during the process of opticaldesign. The semiconductor wafer (with a wafer plane labeled as 1 in theTables) is submerged in fluid (for example, water, as shown in inset ofFIG. 1B) that separates the closest lens (marked as element 2 in theTables) from it. This condition applies to each of the presentedembodiments. Positive radius value indicates that the center ofcurvature is to the right, while a negative radius value indicates thatthe center of curvature is to the left; dimensions are provided inmillimeters; thickness is defined as an axial distance to the nextsurface; and an indicated image diameter is a paraxial value and not aray traced value. Furthermore, with respect to decentering constants, adecenter defines a new coordinate system (displaced and/or rotated) inwhich subsequent surfaces are defined. Surfaces following a decenter arealigned on the local mechanical axis (z-axis) of the new coordinatesystem. The new mechanical axis remains in use for referencing purposesuntil expressly changed by another decenter. The order in whichdisplacements and tilts are applied to a given surface is specifiedusing different decenter types and these generate different newcoordinate systems; those used in this disclosure are explained below.Alpha, beta, and gamma values are presented in degrees. Additionally,with respect to chromatic aberrations, a reduction in Strehl ratiobetween monochromatic and polychromatic deigns represents the contrastloss from chromatic aberrations over the specified spectral band, whilea variation in best individual focus shows the residual field curvature.

An embodiment of the catadioptric optical projection system according tothe invention is designed to ensure, in operation, at least a 50×reduction ratio and is characterized by a hyper-NA (of at least 1.0)catadioptric projection lens and an instantaneous line field of view(one dimensional, ID, FOV) of about 3.6 mm on the surface of the wafer.The projection optical system is structured to be compatible withprinciples of maskless lithography, according to which theconventionally used mask (or reticle) is replaced by an SLM. The SLM maytake a form of a ID array of microelectromechanical actuators, or MEMS,for example, or actuators on the scale of a few tens or hundreds ofnanometers (NEMS). U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,312,513; 5,523,193; 7,110,082;7,206,117; 7,952,780; and 2013/0003166, the disclosure of each of whichis incorporated by reference herein, provide additional information onSLM technology.

Example 1: Catadioptric Embodiment with a 50× Reduction Ratio

FIGS. 1A, 1B, 1C, and 1D illustrate an optical imaging system 100providing a 50× reduction ratio and structured conventionally in that,while the projection lens portion (I and II) includes a catadioptricoptical system, the illumination relay portion (III) is dioptric. Toillustrate contradistinctively advantageous operational characteristicsof a fully-catadioptric system configured according to an embodiment ofthe present invention, a comparison is made with a 50×-reducing opticalsystem of FIGS. 2A and 2B, in which each of the projection lens portion(I and II) and the illuminator relay (III-CAT) is structured as acatadioptric system. For the purposes of comparison, the projection lensportions of both the system of FIG. 1A and the embodiment of FIG. 2A areidentical.

As shown in FIG. 1A, the illumination relay III images a field framingplane (element 33 that is illuminated with a telecentric system, notshown) onto the plane of the SLM (element 24) with a 2× magnification.The light-beam 110 further passes, upon reflection from the SLM (element24), without obscuration into the catadioptric projection sub-system (IIand I) that reduced the image on the surface of the wafer (element 1) by50×. FIGS. 1B, 1C, and 1D show the details of sub-portions of theembodiment 100.

As shown in FIG. 2A, the embodiment 200 of the present inventionincludes the catadioptric projection sub-system (the combination of IIand I) that is the same as in the embodiment 100, operably concatenatedwith the catadioptric illumination relay (III-CAT). The catadioptricillumination relay III-CAT images a field framing plane (element 34 thatis illuminated with a telecentric system, not shown) onto the plane ofthe SLM (element 24) with a 2× magnification. The light-beam 210 furtherpasses, upon reflection from the SLM (element 24), without obscurationinto the catadioptric projection sub-system (II and I) that reduced theimage on the surface of the wafer (element 1) by 50×. The resulting sizeof the rectangular image on the wafer surface is about 3.6×0.16 mm²,which corresponds to about 180×8 mm² light distribution at the plane ofthe SLM and to about 90×4 mm² at the field framing plane (element 34).Optionally, blades may be utilized in the field framing plane to definesharply and/or further limit the size of the field. FIG. 2B shows thedetails of the optical train of the catadioptric illuminator relayIII-CAT.

In both embodiments 100 and 200 (FIGS. 1A and 2A, respectively), thelong dimension of the field is extended perpendicularly to the plane ofthe drawing (or parallel to the x-axis, as indicated). In bothembodiments 100 and 200, the SLM (element 24) contains a ID array ofmicroreflectors that is perpendicular to the plane of the correspondingdrawings and is slightly more than 180 mm in length. In both embodimentsthe SLM is illuminated through the corresponding illumination relay(III, III-CAT) with light delivered from a high-repetition (˜1 MHz) UVlaser source having a specified spectral bandwidth around the centralwavelength of about 193 nm. The laser source used for SLM-utilizingprojection optical system of the invention has a bandwidth that is about30-fold that of a typical UV excimer laser (employed with a conventionalscanner used in lithography), and has a repetition rate exceeding thatof the excimer laser by about three orders of magnitude. The detailedCode V description of the optical train of the embodiment 100 ispresented in Table 1A, while the corresponding description of theoptical train of the embodiment of the invention 200 is presented inTable 2A.

In comparison with the design of the illumination relay III of theembodiment of FIG. 1A, and as detailed in Table 2A, the catadioptricillumination relay III-CAT includes a spherical mirror (element 29). Thecatadioptric projection lens (I, II) of either embodiment 100 or 200also comprises a spherical mirror and a fold mirror (elements 14, 18),but in addition forms an intermediate image close to the fold mirror(element 14) and a number of aspheric lens elements (such as, forexample, elements 13, 15, 17) that, in conjunction with the relayIII-CAT, facilitate hyper-NA of 1.35 at the immersed in water wafersurface.

Descriptions of aberrations characterizing imaging through thecatadioptric lens I, II of the embodiment 100 of the field framing plane33 of the embodiment 100 of FIG. 1A onto the surface of the wafer 1 arepresented in FIG. 5A and Tables 1B, 1C. Table 1B addresses the rayaberrations at the plane of the SLM (at wavelengths in an approximately3 pm-wide spectral bandwidth centered at about 193.3 nm), and wavefrontaberrations associated with the imaging through the catadioptric lens I,II of the embodiment 100). Table 1C addresses the wavefront aberrationsassociated with the imaging through the overall optical system of theembodiment 100, between the field framing plane 33 of the embodiment 100and the surface of the wafer 1. FIG. 5B complements the data of FIG. 1Aby providing lots of ray aberrations defined, for the embodiment of FIG.1A, in the image plane (wafer) within a defined spectral bandwidtharound the operating wavelengths. Descriptions of aberrationscharacterizing imaging through the overall optical system of theembodiment 200 of the invention, between the field framing plane 34 ofthe embodiment 200 and the surface of the wafer 1 of FIG. 2A, aresummarized in FIG. 6 and Table 2B (addressing the ray aberrations andwavefront aberrations, respectively). The direct comparison between thedata on aberrations for the fully-catadioptric projection lens accordingto the idea of the invention with those for a conventional lenshighlights the advantages of the embodiment of the invention, as wouldbe recognized by a skilled artisan.

A person of skill in the art will readily appreciate, from the data ofTables 2B and 1C, for example, that the field curvature of thefully-catadioptric design of the invention (shown in a columnrepresenting the focus position as a function of field height) issubstantially smaller than that of a conventionally-design system 100.Moreover, the difference between the figures of merits describing thepolychromatic aberrations and those describing monochromatic aberrationsis substantially smaller for the embodiment 200 of the invention ascompared to the embodiment 100. Furthermore, the values of Strehl ratioacross the field for the embodiment 200 of the invention aresubstantially higher than those for the embodiment 100 (see, forexample. Strehl ratios respectively characterizing monochromatic rmswavefront aberrations). The embodiment of the invention ensures, inaddition to operationally negligible distortion of imaging between theSLM and the wafer, very small residual monochromatic aberrations on theorder of about 5 milliwaves rms or less.

Example 2: Catadioptric Embodiment with 200× Reduction Ratio

FIGS. 3A, 3B, 3C illustrate an optical imaging system 300 providing a200× reduction ratio and structured conventionally in that, while theprojection lens portion (A) includes a catadioptric optical system, theillumination relay portion (B) is conventionally dioptric. To illustratecontradistinctively advantageous operational characteristics of afully-catadioptric system according to an embodiment of the presentinvention, a comparison is made with a 200×-reducing optical system ofFIG. 4, in which both the projection lens portion (A) and theilluminator relay (B-CAT) are structured as catadioptric systems. Forthe purposes of the comparison, the projection lens portions of both thesystem of FIG. 3A and the embodiment of FIG. 4 are identical. FIGS. 3Band 3C show the details of sub-portions of the embodiment 300.

As shown in FIG. 4, the embodiment 400 of the present invention includesthe catadioptric 200×-reduction projection sub-system (A) that is thesame as that of the embodiment 300, concatenated with the catadioptricillumination relay B-CAT that images a field framing plane (element 33,illuminated with a telecentric system, not shown) onto the plane of theSLM (element 24) with a 2× magnification. The resulting size of therectangular image on the wafer surface (1) is about 0.64×0.16 mm², whichcorresponds to about 128×32 mm² light distribution at the plane of theSLM and to about 64×16 mm² at the field framing plane (element 33).Optionally, blades may be utilized in the field framing plane to definesharply and/or further limit the size of the field. FIG. 2B shows thedetails of the optical train of the catadioptric illuminator relayIII-CAT. In both embodiments 300 and 300 (FIGS. 1A and 2A,respectively), the long dimension of the field is perpendicular to theplane of the drawing (or parallel to the x-axis, as indicated). Theparameters of illuminating UV light used to design the optical trains ofthe embodiment 300 (presented in Table 3A) and the optical train of theembodiment of the invention 400 (presented in Table 4A) are the same asthose discussed in reference to FIGS. 1A, 2A.

In comparison with the design of the illumination relay B of theembodiment 300 of FIG. 3A, and as detailed in Table 4A, the catadioptricillumination relay B-CAT includes one spherical mirror (element 29) andone extra fold planar mirror (element 28). The catadioptric projectionlens (A) of either embodiment 300 or 400 also comprises a sphericalmirror and a fold mirror, but in addition forms an intermediate imageclose to the fold mirror (element 14) and a number of aspheric lenselements that, in conjunction with the relay B-CAT, facilitate hyper-NAof 1.35 for the fully-catadioptric embodiment 400 at the immersed inwater wafer surface.

Descriptions of aberrations characterizing imaging through thecatadioptric lens A of the embodiment 300 of the field framing plane 32onto the surface of the wafer 1 are presented in FIG. 7A and Table 3B(addressing the ray aberrations, at wavelengths in an approximately 3pm-wide spectral bandwidth centered at about 193.3 nm, at the plane ofthe SLM and wavefront aberrations associated with the imaging throughthe catadioptric lens A of the embodiment 300) and Table 3C (addressingthe wavefront aberrations associated with the imaging through theoverall optical system of the embodiment 300, between the field framingplane 32 and the surface of the wafer 1). FIG. 7B complements the dataof FIG. 7A by providing lots of ray aberrations defined, for theembodiment of FIG. 3A, in the image plane (wafer) within a definedspectral bandwidth around the operating wavelengths. Descriptions ofaberrations characterizing imaging through the overall optical system ofthe embodiment 400 of the invention, between the field framing plane 33of the embodiment 400 and the surface of the wafer 1 of FIG. 4, aresummarized in FIG. 8 and Table 4B (addressing the ray aberrations andwavefront aberrations, respectively). The direct comparison between thedata on aberrations for the fully-catadioptric projection lens accordingto the idea of the invention with those for a conventional lenshighlights the advantages of the embodiment of the invention.

As evidenced by the disclosed data, a person of skill in the art willreadily appreciate that, for example, the field curvature of thefully-catadioptric design of the invention is substantially reducedcompared to that of a conventionally-design system 300. Moreover, thedifference between the figures of merits describing the polychromaticaberrations and those describing monochromatic aberrations issubstantially smaller for the embodiment 400 of the invention ascompared to the embodiment 300. Furthermore, the values of Strehl ratioacross the field for the embodiment 400 of the invention aresubstantially higher than those for the embodiment 300 (see, forexample, Strehl ratios respectively characterizing monochromatic rmswavefront aberrations). The embodiment of the invention ensures, inaddition to operationally negligible distortion of imaging between theSLM and the wafer, very small residual monochromatic aberrations on theorder of about 5 milliwaves rms or less.

It is worth noting that, by structuring the illumination relay of theoverall projection system as a catadioptric sub-system, the chromaticaberrations of imaging are substantially reduced in the 50× to 200×dimension reduction system that employs only fused silica refractiveoptical elements and without the use of complex lenses employing 3different materials (such as, for example, a classical doublet lens).The reduction of chromatic aberrations results in negligible loss ofimage contrast when an embodiment of the invention—as compared to aconventionally-designed dioptric-catadioptric projection system—when thesystem is used with a solid-state laser source the spectral bandwidth ofwhich is on the order of 1 pm FWHM.

Accordingly, embodiments of the present invention provides masklessprojection optical systems structured to enable imaging of an objectpattern onto a semiconductor wafer with a de-magnification factor of atleast 50× and as high as 200×. The projection optics comprises anillumination relay, which projects the UV light of about 193 nm from afield framing plane onto the SLM that reflects the incident light, and aprojection lens through which the SLM-reflected UV light is furtherdirected to a semiconductor substrate. The SLM is illuminated bynon-telecentric off-axis illumination, and both the illumination relayand the projection lens include a catadioptric optical sub-system toadvantageously reduce chromatic aberrations of the system operating in aspectral bandwidth on the order of 1 pm. A fluid is provided between thesubstrate and the last optical element of the projection lens. Theprojection optical systems of the invention are configured to enableimaging with an NA of 1.0 or higher.

Example of a Wafer Exposure Apparatus.

An embodiment 900 of the exposure apparatus utilizing an embodiment ofthe invention is shown in a diagram of FIG. 9, and is equipped with anillumination system 910, a pattern generation device 112, thefully-catadioptric imaging system 902 (such as, for example, anembodiment 200 or 400), a positioning stage device 916, an electroniccircuitry governing these and other devices. FIG. 9 illustrates only aschematic of the embodiment, approximately indicating the operablecooperation among the components of the apparatus and not the preciseposition or orientation of such components, and is not to scale. Theexposure apparatus 900 performs an exposure process by projecting animage of a pattern, which is generated by the pattern generation device112, on a wafer plate (sensitive substrate) W mounted on a stage ST thatconstitutes a part of the stage device 916, via the catadioptric systemof the invention 902, in a scanning fashion that includessynchronization of switching (changing) of a pattern generated by thepattern generation device 912 with movement of the wafer W. The wafer Wis scanned in the xy-plane as indicated, with the SLM plane beingperpendicular to the plane of the wafer. The exposure apparatus has adegree of freedom to change the angular orientation of the wafer W aboutthe x, y, and z-axes.

The control system includes a data-collection and/or data-processingelectronic circuitry (controller) 920 that may be part of a computerprocessor specifically programmed to govern the operation of theapparatus 900. The control system may be connected to a host device 950via a communication interface 932.

The illumination system 910 delivers preferably spatially-uniformillumination of a variable molding mask VM, which constitutes a part ofthe pattern generation device 912, with an illumination (exposure)UV-light IL, and is equipped with: a light source system including atleast a UV-light source and a light source control system and anillumination condition-setting mechanism operable to change changinglight irradiance distribution at the pupil plane of the illuminationoptical system; optionally a field stop, a relay lens, and otherrequired zooming, polarizing optical elements as required, among whichthere may be present an optical integrator (a fly-eye lens), not shown.

The pattern generation device 912 is an electronic mask system thatgenerates a variable pattern to be projected onto the waver W mounted onthe stage ST, and is equipped with at least: the variable molding maskVM; a holder 928 that holds the variable molding mask VM; a drive system(controller) 930 that controls operation states of the variable moldingmask VM; a tangible, non-transitory and optionally computer-readablememory 933. The mask variable molding mask may generally include adevice containing a plurality of micro-reflectors such as, for example,a digital micro-mirror device, known as a DMD, or a 3D MEMS.

The variable molding mask VM is placed above (+Z side) thefully-catadioptric embodiment of the projection system 902, and theillumination light IL is delivered to the system 902 from theillumination system 110 upon reflection from the variable molding mask.

The drive system 930 acquires design data (such as CAD data) of apattern, required for forming a pattern image on the wafer W, from thehost device 950 via the interface 932. The drive system 930 furtherrefers to data (hereinafter, called “signal generation information”)stored in the memory 933, and generates signals to drive theelements/mirrors of the variable molding mask VM based on the designdata acquired. The signals to drive each micro mirror are supplied tothe driving mechanism of each micro mirror. The drive system 930 canvary patterns to be generated by the variable molding mask VM based onthe design data acquired, which may be optionally effectuatedsynchronously with the movements of the wafer W P mounted on the stageST.

In addition to the elements of the fully-catadioptric projections system902 discussed above in reference to the embodiments of FIGS. 2A and 4,an image-forming property compensation device 938 (which drivesparticular elements inside the fully-catadioptric system 902 in thedirections Ax1 AX2 and tilts them according to the provided degrees ofangular freedom) may be arranged in operable communication with thesystem 902. The image-forming property compensation device 938 adjustsimage-forming states of the fully catadioptric system 902 of theinvention. Alternatively or in addition, wavelength properties of theillumination light IL (such as center of wavelength, spectral bandwidth,and the like) may be controlled to achieve the modification of the imageon the wafer W.

The stage device 916 is equipped with: the stage ST that is movablewhile holding a wafer W (such as a glass substrate, a semiconductorwafer, for example) prepared for exposure; and a stage drive system 940that controls the operational states (movement and the like) of thestage ST according to commands received from the main controller 920.Positional information (including rotation information) describing theorientation of the stage ST is measured by a positional measurementsystem (not shown) that may include, for example, a laser interferometerand/or encoder as well as a focus sensor, and is supplied to the maincontroller 920 which, in turn, drives motors of the stage drive system940 based on such positional information.

TABLE 1A Description of Optical Train of the Embodiment 100 of Fig. 1A.ELEMENT RADIUS OF CURVATURE APERTURE DIAMETER NUMBER FRONT RACKTHICKNESS FRONT PACK GLASS OBJECT INF 3.0000 ‘Water’ 2 INF   −16.2570 CX13.1558 20.2277 30.2121 ‘SiO2’ 0.2869 3 S(1)   −39.7263 CX 15.370746.7684 59.3550 ‘SiO2’ 0.2869 4 S(2)   −60.2724 CX 19.0464 76.150882.8331 ‘SiO2’ APERTURE STOP 82.8331 0.2869 5 S(3)   −76.5071 CX 18.225890.6356 96.6083 ‘SiO2’ 0.5739 6  359.3759 CX S(4) 23.0773 104.8449106.5348 ‘SiO2’ 37.1856 7  308.2081 CX  −328.8230 CX 26.5407 102.943399.8443 ‘SiO2’ 12.2840 8  89.4404 CX  1362.2325 CC 16.7807 87.458483.3926 ‘SiO2’ 8.8213 9 S(5)  −487.6829 CX 7.5000 81.5244 78.3413 ‘SiO2’76.8018 10  193.1845 CX   71.5006 CC 5.0000 38.8226 36.4073 ‘SiO2’7.6993 11  −39.8835 CC A(1) 5.0000 36.1.057 38.1009 ‘SiO2’ 33.5985 12 382.1002 CX   −77.5554 CX 12.0926 53.9990 55.5152 ‘SiO2’ 1.0000 131310.5028 CX A(2) 8.5747 55.3320 55.1363 ‘SiO2’ 50.0953 DECENTER (1) 14INF −50.2113 C-1 REFL 15 −524.0530 CX A(3) −13.2517 60.2578 61.4956‘SiO2’ −206.1572 16  58.8481 CC   115.4857 CX −5.0000 69.6685 75.0749‘SiO2’ −1.1717 17 A(4)  −113.4481 CC −5.1548 75.6516 81.7457 ‘SiO2’−123.3907 18  181.5965 CC 123.2907 185.8623 REFL 19 −113.4481 CC A(5)5.1648 92.6117 88.5530 ‘SiO2’ 1.1717 20  115.4857 CX   58.8481 CC 5.000086.0541 79.2534 ‘SiO2’ 206.1572 21 A(6)  −524.0530 CX 13.2517 93.741493.1676 ‘SiO2’ 50.2113 DECENTER( 2) 88.5989 49.9344 22 −128.3482 CC  120.3731 CC 14.6614 68.5771 69.6874 ‘SiO2’ 107.5287 23 A(7)   −86.2586CX 11.8617 108.0913 112.2249 ‘SiO2’ 502.2967 24 INF −100.0000 216.3994REFL DECENTER( 3) 25 INF 100.0000 C-2 REFL 26  419.9816 CX  −714.1824 CX44.9407 282.2641 281.7818 ‘SiO2’ 0.1000 27  216.9230 CX   167.2850 CC32.4700 261.3636 234.5263 ‘SiO2’ 557.4266 157.5295 0.0000 157.5295295.3348 28  127.1564 CX −23012.2683 CX 51.4661 112.2159 95.5665 ‘SiO2’95.5116 29  −72.8237 CC   84.6697 CC 11.0413 32.0499 30.0404 ‘SiO2’27.3428 30  595.1633 CX   −94.4057 CX 76.1582 42.0182 68.5892 ‘SiO2’341.1608 31  202.9635 CX  −702.1241 CX 35.0000 136.2980 133.6332 ‘SiO2’0.6118 32  99.8742 CX   80.2315 CC 8.0304 125.3481 117.0218 ‘SiO2’ IMAGEDISTANCE = −123.4048 33 IMAGE INF 108.1814 APERTURE DATA DIAMETERDECENTER APERTURE SHAPE X Y X Y ROTATION C-1 RECTANGLE 52.482 20.0000.000 25.000 0.0 C-2 RECTANGLE 307.113 40 000 0.000 −110.000 0.0aspheric constants$Z = {\frac{({CURV})Y^{2}}{1 + \left( {1 - {\left( {1 + K} \right)({CURV})^{2}Y^{2}}} \right)^{1/2}} + {(A)Y^{4}} + {(B)Y^{6}} + {(C)Y^{8}} + {(D)Y^{10}} + {(E)Y^{12}} + {(F)Y^{14}} + {(G)Y^{16}} + {(H)Y^{18}} + {(J)Y^{20}}}$K A B C D ASPHERIC CURV E F G H J A(1)  0.851039E−02 0.00000000−1.01624E−06  6.08007E−10 −5.62736E−13  1.14084E−15 −2.32923E−18 2.08999E−21  0.00000E+00  0.00000E+00  0.00000E+00 A(2) −0.618726E−020.00000000  1.39355E−07  1.13165E−11  7.81414E−16  5.66581E−19 0.00000E+00  0.00000E+00  0.00000E+00  0.00000E+00  0.00000E+00 A(3) 0.518760E−02 0.00000000 −8.99477E−08 −2.67713E−12 −8.56400E−16 7.98734E−20  0.00000E+00  0.00000E+00  0.00000E+00  0.00000E+00 0.00000E+00 A(4) 0.01015569 0.00000000 −1.65154E−06 −2.76782E-10 1.94297E−13 −5.45936E−17  8.17140E−21 −4.67186E−25  0.00000E+00 0.00000E+00  0.00000E+00 A(5) 0.01015569 0.00000000 −1.65154E−06−2.76782E−10  1.94297E−13 −5.45936E−17  8.17140E−21 −4.67186E−25 0.00000E+00  0.00000E+00  0.00000E+00 A(6)  0.518760E−02 0.00000000−8.99477E−08 −2.67713E−12 −8.56400E−16  7.98734E−20  0.00000E+00 0.00000E+00  0.00000E+00  0.00000E+00  0.00000E−00 A(7) −0.960266E−020.00000000  2.22077E−08  1.44665E−12  1.43853E−16  1.09803E−20 0.00000E+00  0.00000E+00  0.00000E+00  0.00000E+00  0.00000E+00 SPECIALSURFACES (SPS types) QCN SURFACES x = (Y/NRADIUS)**2$Z = {\frac{({CURV})Y^{2}}{1 + \left( {1 - {\left( {1 + K} \right)({CURV})^{2}Y^{2}}} \right)^{1/2}} + {x^{2}*\left( {{({QC4}){Q_{0}^{con}(x)}} + {({QC6}){Q_{1}^{con}(x)}} + \ldots + {({QC30}){Q_{13}^{con}(x)}}} \right)}}$ASPHERIC CURV NRADIUS (C2) K (C1) QC4 (C4)  QC6 (C5)  QC8 (C6)  QC10(C7)  QC12 (C8)  QC14 (C9)  QC16 (C10) QC18 (C11) QC20 (C12) QC22 (C13)QC24 (C14) QC26 (C15) QC28 (C16) QC30 (C17) S(1) −0.393296E−01 0.241104E+02  0.000000E+00  0.102350E+01 −0.110831E+00 −0.153148E−01 0.409086E−02 −0.809714E−03  0.125654E−03 −0.792809E−04  0.106091E−04−0.131607E−04 −0.914150E−06 −0.301755E−05 −0.558949E−06 −0.106807E−05−0.437373E−06 ASPHERIC CURV NRADIUS (C2) K (C1) QC4 (C4)  QC6 (C5)  QC8(C6)  QC10 (C7)  QC12 (C8)  QC14 (C9)  QC16 (C10) QC18 (C11) QC20 (C12)QC22 (C13) QC24 (C14) QC26 (C15) QC28 (C16) QC30 (C17) S(2)−0.549169E−02  0.410514E+00  0.000000E+00  0.647857E+00 −0.579468E−01−0.149522E+00 −0.563430E−01 −0.119113E−01 −0.815318E−02 −0.237721E−02−0.153527E−02 −0.416675E−03 −0.202108E−03 −0.522481E−04 −0.187957E−04−0.238197E−06  0.192168E−06 ASPHERIC CURV NRADIUS (C2) K (C1) QC4 (C4) QC6 (C5)  QC8 (C6)  QC10 (C7)  QC12 (C8)  QC14 (C9)  QC16 (C10) QC18(C11) QC20 (C12) QC22 (C13) QC24 (C14) QC26 (C15) QC28 (C16) QC30 (C17)S(3) −0.611446E-02  0.480523E+02  0.000000E+00  0.212139E−01−0.640452E+00  0.290637E+00  0.884384E−01  0.160688E−01 −0.316193E−02−0.469821E−02 −0.111522E−02  0.393635E−03  0.615198E−03  0.360576E−03 0.142886E−03  0.388167E−04  0.577816E−08 ASPHERIC CURV NRADIUS (C2) K(C1) QC4 (C4)  QC6 (C5)  QC8 (C6)  QC10 (C7)  QC12 (C8)  QC14 (C5) QC16(C10) QC18 (C11) QC20 (C12) QC22 (C13) QC24 (C14) QC26 (C15) QC28 (C16)QC30 (C17) S(4) −0.379826E−02  0.559469E+02  0.000000E+00 −0.123020E+01−0.577347E−01  0.143110E+00  0.581555E−01  0.175100E−01  0.874534E−02 0.409713E−02  0.198654E−02  0.915187E−03  0.409889E−03  0.169900E−03 0.634141E−04  0.198459E−04  0.406977E−05 ASPHERIC CURV NRADIUS (C2) K(C1) QC4 (C4)  QC6 (C5)  QC8 (C6)  QC10 (C7)  QC12 (C8)  QC14 (C9)  QC16(C10) QC18 (C11) QC20 (C12) QC22 (C13) QC24 (C14) QC26 (C15) QC28 (C16)QC30 (C17) S(5) −0.546127E−02  0.430941E+02  0.000000E+00 −0.2345 82E+01−0.409559E−01  0.130732E−02  0.358234E−02  0.144329E−02  0.459955E−03 0.919185E−04 −0.551606E−05 −0.193417E−04 −0.133179E−04 −0.696762E−05−0.262871E−05 −07092652−06  0.335430E−07 DECENTERING CONSTANTS DECENTERX Y Z ALPHA BETA GAMMA D(1) 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000 45.0000 0.0000 0.0000(BEND) D 2) 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000 45.0000 0.0000 0.0000 (RETU) D(3)0.0000 0.0000 0.0000 −45.0000 0.0000 0.0000 (BEND)

TABLE 1B Monochromatic and Polychromatic Wavefront Aberrations andCorresponding Strehl Ratios of the Catadioptric Projection Lens (I, II)of the Embodiment 100 of FIG. 1A. Monochromatic rms wavefrontaberrations and Strehl ratio - Wafer to SLM: BEST INDIVIDUAL FOCUS BESTCOMPOSITE FOCUS SHIFT FOCUS RMS SHIFT FOCUS RMS FIELD FRACT DEG (MM.)(MM.) (WAVES) STREHL (MM.) (MM.) (WAVES) STREHL X 0.00 0.00 0.0000000.002182 0.0049 0.999 0.000000 0.000635 0.0050 0.999 Y 1.00 0.00−0.000058 0.000048 X 0.50 0.00 0.000124 0.002561 0.0050 0.999 0.0000250.000635 0.0051 0.999 Y 1.00 0.00 −0.000165 −0.000033 X 0.70 0.00−0.000296 −0.003506 0.0027 1.000 0.000003 0.000635 0.0036 1.000 Y 1.000.00 0.000282 −0.000003 X 1.00 0.00 0.000065 0.001322 0.0032 1.000−0.000005 0.000635 0.0032 1.000 Y 1.00 0.00 −0.000044 0.000003 COMPOSITERMS FOR POSITION 1: 0.00432 Polychromatic rms wavefront aberrations andStrehl ratio - Wafer to SLM: BEST INDIVIDUAL FOCUS BEST COMPOSITE FOCUSSHIFT FOCUS RMS SHIFT FOCUS RMS FIELD FRACT DEG (MM.) (MM.) (WAVES)STREHL (MM.) (MM.) (WAVES) STREHL X 0.00 0.00 0.000000 0.011497 0.02060.983 0.000000 0.009940 0.0206 0.983 Y 1.00 0.00 −0.000054 0.000053 X0.50 0.00 0.000121 0.011864 0.0207 0.983 0.000022 0.009940 0.0207 0.983Y 1.00 0.00 −0.000161 −0.000029 X 0.70 0.00 −0.000300 0.005790 0.02040.984 −0.000001 0.009940 0.0205 0.984 Y 1.00 0.00 0.000286 0.000001 X1.00 0.00 0.000063 0.010627 0.0206 0.983 −0.000007 0.009940 0.0206 0.983Y 1.00 0.00 −0.000042 0.000005 COMPOSITE RMS FOR POSITION 1: 0.02060Reduction in Strehl ratio between monochromatic and polychromatic casesrepresents the contrast loss from chromatic aberrations over thespectral band WL = 193.3074 193.3069 193.3065 193.306 193.3057 193.3055193.3046 WTW = 11 29 60 100 69 17 5

TABLE 1C Monochromatic and Polychromatic Wavefront Aberrations andCorresponding Strehl Ratios of the Overall Embodiment 100 FIG. 1A.Monochromatic rms wavefront aberrations and Strehl ratio - Wafer tofield framing plane: BEST INDIVIDUAL FOCUS BEST COMPOSITE FOCUS SHIFTFOCUS RMS SHIFT FOCUS RMS FIELD FRACT DEG (MM.) (MM.) (WAVES) STREHL(MM.) (MM.) (WAVES) STREHL X 0.00 0.00 0.000000 0.022771 0.0803 0.7750.000000 −0.007150 0.1047 0.648 Y 1.00 0.00 0.000621 0.000531 X 0.500.00 −0.000104 −0.015071 0.0646 0.848 −0.000101 −0.007150 0.0670 0.838 Y1.00 0.00 0.000133 0.000155 X 0.70 0.00 0.000071 −0.043989 0.0323 0.9600.000088 −0.007150 0.0877 0.738 Y 1.00 0.00 −0.000050 0.000044 X 1.000.00 0.000823 0.007510 0.0866 0.744 0.000816 −0.007150 0.0923 0.714 Y1.00 0.00 −0.000533 −0.000579 COMPOSITE RMS FOR POSITION 1: 0.08903Variation in best individual focus shows the residual field curvature.WL = 193.3074 193.3069 193.3065 193.306 193.3057 193.3055 193.3046 WTW =0 0 0 1 0 0 0 Polychromatic rms wavefront aberrations and Strehl ratio -Wafer to field framing plane: BEST INDIVIDUAL FOCUS BEST COMPOSITE FOCUSSHIFT FOCUS RMS SHIFT FOCUS RMS FIELD FRACT DEG (MM.) (MM.) (WAVES)STREHL (MM.) (MM.) (WAVES) STREHL X 0.00 0.00 0.000000 0.025445 0.08440.755 0.000000 −0.004468 0.1079 0.632 Y 1.00 0.00 0.000606 0.000516 X0.50 0.00 −0.000096 −0.012416 0.0700 0.824 −0.000094 −0.004468 0.07220.814 Y 1.00 0.00 0.000118 0.000140 X 0.70 0.00 0.000081 −0.0413170.0418 0.933 0.000098 −0.004468 0.0916 0.718 Y 1.00 0.00 −0.0000640.000030 X 1.00 0.00 0.000833 0.010241 0.0902 0.725 0.000827 −0.0044680.0958 0.696 Y 1.00 0.00 −0.000544 −0.000590 COMPOSITE RMS FOR POSITION1: 0.09281 Reduction in Strehl ratio between monochromatic andpolychromatic cases represents the contrast loss from chromaticaberrations over the spectral band. Variation in best individual focusshows the residual field curvature. WL = 193.3074 193.3069 193.3065193.306 193.3057 193.3055 193.3046 WTW = 11 29 60 100 69 17 5

TABLE 2A Description of Optical Train of the Embodiment 200 of Fig. 2A.ELEMENT RADIUS OF CURVATURE APERTURE DIAMETER NUMBER FRONT BACKTHICKNESS FRONT BACK GLASS OBJECT INF 3.0000 ‘Water’ 2 INF  −16.2570 CX13.1558 20.2277 30.2121 ‘SiO2’ 0.2869 3 S(1)  −39.7263 CX 15.370746.7684 59.3550 ‘SiO2’ 0.2869 4 S(2)  −60.2724 CX 19.0464 76.150882.8331 ‘SiO2’ APERTURE STOP 82.8331 0.2869 5 S(3)  −76.5071 CX 18.225890.6356 96.6083 ‘SiO2’ 0.5739 6  359.3759 CX S(4) 23.0773 104.8449106.5348 ‘SiO2’ 37.1856 7  308.2081 CX −328.8230 CX 26.5407 102.943399.8443 ‘SiO2’ 12.2840 8   89.4404 CX 1362.2325 CC 16.7807 87.458483.3926 ‘SiO2’ 8.8213 9 S(5) −487.6829 CX 7.5000 81.5244 78.3413 ‘SiO2’76.8018 10  193.1846 CX  71.5006 CC 5.0000 38.8226 36.4073 ‘SiO2’ 7.699311  −39.8835 CC A(1) 5.0000 36.1057 38.1009 ‘SiO2’ 33.5985 12  382.1002CX  −77.5554 CX 12.0926 53.9990 55.5152 ‘SiO2’ 1.0000 13  1310.5028 CXA(2) 8.5747 55.3320 55.1363 ‘SiO2’ 50.0953 DECENTER (1) 14 INF −50.2113C-1 REFL 15  −524.530 CX A(3) −13.2517 60.2578 61.4956 ‘SiO2’ −206.157216   58.8481 CC  115.4857 CX −5.0000 69.6685 75.0749 ‘SiO2’ −1.1717 17A(4)  −113.4481 CC −5.1648 76.6316 81.7457 ‘SiO2’ −123.3907 18 181.5965CC 123.3907 185.8623 REFL 19  −113.4481 CC A(5) 5.1648 92.6117 88.5530‘SiO2’ 1.1717 20  115.4857 CX  58.8481 CC 5.0000 86.0541 79.2534 ‘SiO2’206.1572 21 A(6) −524.0530 CX 13.2517 93.7414 93.1676 ‘SiO2’ 50.2113DECENTER (2) 88.5989 49.9344 22  −128.3482 CC  120.3731 CC 14.661468.5771 69.6874 ‘SiO2’ 107.6287 23 A(7)  −86.2586 CX 11.8617 108.0913112.2249 ‘SiO2’ 502.2967 24 INF −160.0000 216.3994 REFL DECENTER(3) 25INF 145.0000 C-2 REFL 26  634.1614 CX −481.4042 CX 60.0000 311.6549311.6673 ‘SiO2’ 214.8823 27  −253.8821 CC −610.0222 CX 25.0000 225.1467229.7226 ‘SiO2’ 153.1720 DECENTER( 4) 28 INF −200.0000 C-3 REFL 29823.1657 CC 353.3051 216.5542 REFL 30  103.1957 CX  77.5662 CC 25.000027.3671 31.8654 SiO2’ 145.7979 31 −1301.3477 CC −176.7716 CX 40.0000115.2141 127.1097 ‘SiO2’ 0.1000 32  226.1976 CX −533.9956 CX 35.0000131.6026 129.7346 ‘SiO2’ 0.1000 33   96.8063 CX  80.2315 CC 8.0304122.5221 114.9970 ‘SiO2’ IMAGE DISTANCE = 100.0031 IMAGE INF 108.1987APERTURE DATA DIAMETER DECENTER APERTURE SHAPE X Y X Y ROTATION C-1RECTANGLE 52.482 20.000 0.000 25.000 0.0 C-2 RECTANGLE 329.531 50.0000.000 −120.000 0.0 C-3 RECTANGLE 259.931 50.000 0.000 −813.000 0.0aspheric constants$Z = {\frac{({CURV})Y^{2}}{1 + \left( {1 - {\left( {1 + K} \right)({CURV})^{2}Y^{2}}} \right)^{1/2}} + {(A)Y^{4}} + {(B)Y^{6}} + {(C)Y^{8}} + {(D)Y^{10}} + {(E)Y^{12}} + {(F)Y^{14}} + {(G)Y^{16}} + {(H)Y^{18}} + {(J)Y^{20}}}$K A B C D ASPHERIC CURV E F G H J A(1)  0.851039E−02 0.00000000−1.01624E−06  6.08007E−10 −5.62736E−13  1.14084E−15 −2.32923E−18 2.08999E−21  0.00000E+00  0.00000E+00  0.00000E+00 A(2) −0.618726E−020.00000000  1.39355E−07  1.13165E−11  7.81414E−16  5.66581E−19 0.00000E+00  0.00000E+00  0.00000E+00  0.00000E+00  0.00000E+00 A(3) 0.518760E−02 0.00000000 −8.99477E−08 −2.67713E−12 −8.56400E−16 7.98734E−20  0.00000E+00  0.00000E+00  0.00000E+00  0.00000E+00 0.00000E+00 A(4) 0.01015569 0.00000000 −1.65154E−06 −2.76782E−10 1.94297E−13 −5.45936E−17  8.17140E−21 −4.67186E−25  0.00000E+00 0.00000E+00  0.00000E+00 A(5) 0.01015569 0.00000000 −1.65154E−06−2.76782E−10  1.94297E−13 −5.45936E−17  8.17140E−21 −4.67186E−25 0.00000E+00  0.00000E+00  0.00000E−00 A(6)  0.518760E−02 0.00000000−8.994770−08 −2.67713E−12 −8.56400E−36  7.98734E−20  0.00000E+00 0.00000E+00  0.00000E+00  0.00000E+00  0.00000E+00 A(7) −0.960266E−020.00000000  2.22077E−08  1.44665E−12  1.43851E−16  1.09803E−20 0.00000E+00  0.00000E+00  0.00000E+00  0.00000E+00  0.00000E+00 SPECIALSURFACES (SPS types) QCN SURFACES x = (Y/NRADIUS)**2$Z = {\frac{({CURV})Y^{2}}{1 + \left( {1 - {\left( {1 + K} \right)({CURV})^{2}Y^{2}}} \right)^{1/2}} + {x^{2}*\left( {{({QC4}){Q_{0}^{con}(x)}} + {({QC6}){Q_{1}^{con}(x)}} + \ldots + {({QC30}){Q_{13}^{con}(x)}}} \right)}}$ASPHERIC CURV NRADIUS (C2) K (C1) QC4 (C4)  QC6 (C5)  QC8 (C6)  QC10(C7)  QC12 (C8)  QC14 (C9)  QC16 (C10) QC18 (C11) QC20 (C12) QC22 (C13)QC24 (C14) QC26 (C15) QC28 (C16) QC30 (C17) S(1) −0.193296E−01 0.241104E+02  0.000000E+00  0.102350E+01 −0.110831E+00 −0.153148E−01 0.409086E−02 −0.809714E−03  0.125654E−03 −0.792809E−04  0.106091E−04−0.131607E−04 −0.914150E−06 −0.301755E−05 −0.558949E−06 −0.106807E−05−0.437373E−06 ASPHERIC CURV NRADIUS (C2) K (C1) QC4 (C4)  QC6 (C5)  QC8(C6)  QC10 (C7)  QC12 (C8)  QC14 (C9)  QC16 (C10) QC18 (C11) QC20 (C12)QC22 (C13) QC24 (C14) QC26 (C15) QC28 (C16) QC30 (C17) S(2)−0.549169E−02  0.410514E+02  0.000000E+00  0.647857E+00 −0.579468E−01−0.149522E+00 −0.563430E−01 −0.119113E−01 −0.815318E−02 −0.237721E−02−0.153527E−02 −0.416675E−03 −0.202108E−03 −0.522481E−04 −0.187957E−04−0.228197E−06  0.192168E−06 ASPHERIC CURV NRADIUS (C2) K (C1) QC4 (C4) QC6 (C5)  QC8 (C6)  QC10 (C7)  QC12 (C8)  QC14 (C9)  QC16 (C10) QC18(C11) QC20 (C12) QC22 (C13) QC24 (C14) QC26 (C15) QC28 (C16) QC30 (C17)S(3) −0.611446E−02 0.480523E+02 0.000000E+00  0.212139E−01 −0.640452E+00 0.290637E+00 0.884384E−01 0.160688E−01 −0.316193E−02 −0.469821E−02−0.111522E−02 0.293635E−03 0.615198E−03  0.360576E−03  0.142886E−03 0.388167E−04 0.577816E−05 ASPHERIC CURV NRADIUS (C2) K (C1) QC4 (C4) QC6 (C5)  QC8 (C6)  QC10 (C7)  QC12 (C8)  QC14 (C9)  QC16 (C10) QC18(C11) QC20 (C12) QC22 (C13) QC24 (C14) QC26 (C15) QC28 (C16) QC30 (C17)S(4) −0.379826E−02 0.559469E+02 0.000000E+00 −0.123020E+01 −0.577347E−010.142110E+00 0.581555E−01 0.175100E−01  0.874534E−02  0.409713E−020.198654E−02 0.91.5187E−03 0.409889E−03  0.1699007−03  0.634341E−040.198459E−04 0.406977E−05 ASPHERIC CURV NRADIUS (C2) K (C1) QC4 (C4) QC6 (C5)  QC8 (C6)  QC10 (C7)  QC12 (C8)  QC14 (C9)  QC16 (C10) QC18(C11) QC20 (C12) QC22 (C13) QC24 (C14) QC26 (C15) QC28 (C16) QC30 (C17)S(5) −0.546127E−02  0.430941E+02  0.000000E+00 −0.234582E+01−0.409559E−01  0.130732E−02  0.358234E−02  0.144329E−02  0.459955E−03 0.9191.85E−04 −0.551606E−05 −0.193417E−04 −0.133179E−04 −0.696762E−05−0.262871E−05 −0.709265E−06  0.335430E−07 DECENTERING CONSTANTS DECENTERX Y Z ALPHA BETA GAMMA D(1) 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000 45.000 0.0000 0.0000(BEND) D(2) 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000 45.000 0.0000 0.0000 (RETU) D(3) 0.00000.0000 0.0000 −45.000 0.0000 0.0000 (BEND) D(4) 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000−45.000 0.0000 0.0000 (BEND)

TABLE 2B Monochromatic and Polychromatic Wavefront Aberrations andCorresponding Strehl Ratios of the Overall Embodiment 200 of FIG. 2A.Monchromatic rms wavefront aberrations and Strehl ratio - Wafer to fieldframing plane: BEST INDIVIDUAL FOCUS BEST COMPOSITE FOCUS SHIFT FOCUSRMS SHIFT FOCUS RMS FIELD FRACT DEG (MM.) (MM.) (WAVES) STREHL (MM.)(MM.) (WAVES) STREHL X 0.00 0.00 0.000000 0.005621 0.0627 0.856 0.0000000.000129 0.0639 0.851 Y 1.00 0.00 0.000108 0.000092 X 0.50 0.00 0.000010−0.006715 0.0254 0.975 0.000012 0.000129 0.0297 0.966 Y 1.00 0.000.000071 0.000091 X 0.70 0.00 0.000110 −0.001322 0.0548 0.888 0.0001100.000129 0.0549 0.888 Y 1.00 0.00 −0.000075 −0.000071 X 1.00 0.000.000200 0.002878 0.0510 0.902 0.000199 0.000129 0.0514 0.901 Y 1.000.00 −0.000062 −0.000071 COMPOSITE RMS FOR POSITION 1: 0.05156 Variationin best individual focus shows the residual field curvature - muchreduced when compared with Dioptric design WL = 193.3074 193.3069193.3065 193.306 193.3057 193.3055 193.3046 WTW = 0 0 0 1 0 0 0Polychromatic rms wavefront aberrations and Strehl ratio - Wafer tofield framing plane: BEST INDIVIDUAL FOCUS BEST COMPOSITE FOCUS SHIFTFOCUS RMS SHIFT FOCUS RMS FIELD FRACT DEG (MM.) (MM.) (WAVES) STREHL(MM.) (MM.) (WAVES) STREHL X 0.00 0.00 0.000000 0.007964 0.0650 0.8460.000000 0.002451 0.0662 0.841 Y 1.00 0.00 0.000105 0.000089 X 0.50 0.000.000008 −0.004436 0.0317 0.961 0.000010 0.002451 0.0352 0.952 Y 1.000.00 0.000068 0.000087 X 0.70 0.00 0.000107 0.000998 0.0584 0.8740.000108 0.002451 0.0585 0.873 Y 1.00 0.00 −0.000077 −0.000073 X 1.000.00 0.000195 0.005229 0.0558 0.884 0.000194 0.002451 0.0562 0.883 Y1.00 0.00 −0.000063 −0.000072 COMPOSITE RMS FOR POSITION 1: 0.05526Reduction in Strehl ratio between monochromatic and polychromatic casesrepresents the contrast loss from chromatic aberrations over thespectral band WL = 193.3074 193.3069 193.3065 193.306 193.3057 193.3055193.3046 WTW = 11 29 60 100 69 17 5

TABLE 3A Description of Optical Train of the Embodiment 300 of Fig. 3A.ELEMENT RADIUS OF CURVATURE APERTURE DIAMETER NUMBER FRONT BACKTHICKNESS FRONT BACK GLASS OBJECT INF 1.0000 ‘Water’ 2 INF   −8.2303 CX6.4351 6.5264 1.43201 ‘SiO2’ 0.1435 3 S(1)  −18.8001 CX 6.7222 22.582527.5686 ‘SiO2’ 0.1435 4 S(2)  −30.0784 CX 8.5273 35.6362 39.1897 ‘SiO2’0.1435 5 S(3)  −38.4857 CX 9.4617 44.1620 46.6075 ‘SiO2’ APERTURE STOP46.6075 0.2869 6  166.3155 CX S(4) 10.0143 49.0041 49.4058 ‘SiO2’23.5239 7  173.2270 CX  −162.8488 CX 7.3700 54.0004 53.9884 ‘SiO2’9.4810 8  −154.6474 CC  −86.1299 CX 8.2671 52.1115 52.1002 ‘SiO2’ 0.20969 A(1)  −138.6302 CX 3.7500 51.9125 52.2633 ‘SiO2’ 22.8744 10   71.0710CX  535.1092 CC 6.8489 49.1146 48.1285 ‘SiO2’ 57.9463 11  −54.3888 CCA(2) 29.9969 22.0496 17.8257 ‘SiO2’ 3.7833 12  −53.1248 CC  −32.8926 CX8.9225 18.0343 19.6876 ‘SiO2’ 11.1925 13  465.4200 CX A(3) 7.347319.3068 19.1032 ‘SiO2’ 42.9871 DECENTER (1) 14 INF −43.0547 C-1 REFL 15 −140.8055 CX A(4) −29.9980 26.7472 29.2969 ‘SiO2’ −34.1845 16   59.5352CC  −59.2154 CC −30.0000 24.5566 26.7873 ‘SiO2’ −13.0243 17 A(5) −37.3543 CC −2.5824 31.4897 31.9462 ‘SiO2’ −38.4141 18 73.1939 CC38.4141 56.3111 REFL 19  −37.3543 CC A(6) 2.5824 35.8758 35.8710 ‘SiO2’13.0243 20  −59.2154 CC   59.5352 CC 30.0000 31.4408 30.6241 ‘SiO2’34.1845 21 A(7)  −140.8055 CX 29.9980 40.2935 38.4955 ‘SiO2’ 43.0547DECENTER (2) 32.6896 20.0054 22 A(8)   69.7865 CC 16.6301 21.757023.4641 ‘SiO2’ 71.5676 23 A(9)  −47.3231 CX 10.8672 45.7252 51.0228‘SiO2’ 787.7006 24 INF −50.0000 237.4629 REFL DECENTER ( 3) 25 INF150.0000 C-2 REFL 26 40540.8039 CX  −491.5484 CX 44.9407 289.1237292.7506 ‘SiO2’ 0.1000 27  540.7167 CX −3584.5181 CX 35.0000 288.7494285.5192 ‘SiO2’ 557.4266 30.9950 0.0000 30.9950 448.8330 28  2630.2809CX  −397.1567 CX 51.4661 192.3463 202.1249 ‘SiO2’ 73.9364 29  168.9589CX −2918.7765 CX 76.1582 217.9061 200.8210 ‘SiO2’ 7.8995  131.1.316 CX 235.6712 CC 35.0000 166.8410 147.9259 ‘SiO2’ 30 16.5743 31  −652.1637CC   84.3649 CC 8.0304 147.2153 121.3181 ‘SiO2’ IMAGE DISTANCE =144.6348 IMAGE INF 118.7353 APERTURE DATA DIAMETER DECENTER APERTURESHAPE X Y X Y ROTATION C-1 RECTANGLE 19.328 8.000 0.000 9.000 0.0 C-2RECTANGLE 367.770 50.000 0.000 −170.000 0.0 aspheric constants$Z = {\frac{({CURV})Y^{2}}{1 + \left( {1 - {\left( {1 + K} \right)({CURV})^{2}Y^{2}}} \right)^{1/2}} + {(A)Y^{4}} + {(B)Y^{6}} + {(C)Y^{8}} + {(D)Y^{10}} + {(E)Y^{12}} + {(F)Y^{14}} + {(G)Y^{16}} + {(H)Y^{18}} + {(J)Y^{20}}}$K A B C D ASPHERIC CURV E F G H J A(1) −0.788036E−02 0.00000000−1.60680E−06 −5.71603E−30 −7.95423E−13  1.61828E−15 −6.85051E−18 1.52500E−20 −2.15168E−23  1.70021E−26 −5.74938E−30 A(2)  0.033136180.00000000 −1.12080E−05  3.59225E−08 −8.31387E−11 −8.58999E−13 3.01032E−15  6.97263E−18  0.00000E+00  0.00000E+00  0.00000E+00 A(3)−0.01807134 0.00000000  2.44282E−07 −5.88773E−09  1.90874E−11 5.73753E−15  0.00000E+00  0.00000E+00  0.00000E+00  0.00000E+00 0.00000E+00 A(4)  0.01839303 0.00000000 −2.40018E−06  1.13544E−09−1.07358E−12  6.87182E−16  0.00000E+00  0.00000E+00  0.00000E+00 0.00000E+00  0.00000E+00 A(5)  0.206863E−02 0.00000000 −1.78913E−05 1.98684E−09  2.29867E−11 −5.17522E−14  5.67365E−17 −2.60781E−20 0.00000E+00  0.00000E+00  0.00000E+00 A(6)  0.206863E−02 0.00000000−1.78913E−05  1.98684E−09  2.29867E−11 −5.17522E−14  5.67365E−17−2.60781E−20  0.00000E+00  0.00000E+00  0.00000E+00 A(7)  0.03839301 0.00000000 −2.40018E−06  1.33544E−09 −1.07358E−12  6.87182E−16 0.00000E+00  0.00000E+00  0.00000E+00  0.00000E+00  0.00000E+00 A(8)−0.02941486 0.00000000 −9.82126E−07 −6.38630E−09  2.82716E−11−1.59921E−13  0.00000E+00  0.00000E+00  0.00000E+00  0.00000E+00 0.00000E+00 A(9) −0.02047184 0.00000000  7.86549E−08  1.18534E−10−1.77852E−13  1.38406E−16  0.00000E+00  0.00000E+00  0.00000E+00 0.00000E+00  0.00000E+00 SPECIAL SURFACES (SPS types) QCN SURFACES x =(Y/NRADIUS)**2$Z = {\frac{({CURV})Y^{2}}{1 + \left( {1 - {\left( {1 + K} \right)({CURV})^{2}Y^{2}}} \right)^{1/2}} + {x^{2}*\left( {{({QC4}){Q_{0}^{con}(x)}} + {({QC6}){Q_{1}^{con}(x)}} + \ldots + {({QC30}){Q_{13}^{con}(x)}}} \right)}}$ASPHERIC CURV NRADIUS (C2) K (C1) QC4 (C4)  QC6 (C5)  QC8 (C6)  QC10(C7)  QC12 (C8) QC14 (C9) QC16 (C10) QC18 (C11) QC20 (C12) S(1)−0.375089E−01  0.117087E+02  0.000000E+00  0.781699E+00 −0.111327E+00−0.752173E−02  0.189059E−02 −0.165226E−02  0.132330E−03 −0.400665E−04−0.154608E−04  0.381404E−05 ASPHERIC CURV NRADIUS (C2) K (C1) QC4 (C4) QC6 (C5)  QC8 (C6)  QC10 (C7)  QC12 (C8) QC14 (C9) QC16 (C10) QC18 (C11)QC20 (C12) S(2) −0.108880E−01  0.189520E+02  0.000000E+00  0.179588E+00−0.243968E+00  0.129881E+00 −0.269953E−01  0.723456E−02 −0.134297E−02 0.138474E−03 −0.167556E−03  0.920416E−05 ASPHERIC CURV NRADIUS (C2) K(C1) QC4 (C4)  QC6 (C5)  QC8 (C6)  QC10 (C7)  QC12 (C8) QC14 (C9) QC16(C10) QC18 (C11) QC20 (C12) S(3) −0.323451E−01  0.220374E+02 0.000000E+00  0.673702E+00  0.232005E+00 −0.718514E−01  0.108260E−01−0.224315E−03 −0.855525E−03  0.320809E−04  0.801810E−04 −0.195269E−04ASPHERIC CURV NRADIUS (C2) K (C1) QC4 (C4)  QC6 (C5)  QC8 (C6)  QC10(C7)  QC12 (C8) QC14 (C9) QC16 (C10) QC18 (C11) QC20 (C12) S(4)−0.810124E−02  0.230971E+02  0.000000E+00  0.101446E+01  0.356972E−01−0.207860E−02  0.217109E−02  0.423426E−03  0.307139E−04 −0.463203E−05 0.168129E−05 −0.616318E−06 DECENTERING CONSTANTS DECENT X Y Z ALPHABETA GAMMA D(1) 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000 45.0000 0.0000 0.0000 (BEND) D(2)0.0000 0.0000 0.0000 45.0000 0.0000 0.0000 (RETU) D(3) 0.0000 0.00000.0000 −45.0000 0.0000 0.0000 (BEND)

TABLE 3B Monochromatic and Polychromatic Wavefront Aberrations andCorresponding Strehl Ratios of the Catadioptric Projection Lens (I, II)of the Embodiment 300 of FIG. 3A. Monochromatic rms wavefrontaberrations and Strehl ratio - Wafer to SLM: BEST INDIVIDUAL FOCUS BESTCOMPOSITE FOCUS SHIFT FOCUS RMS SHIFT FOCUS RMS FIELD FRACT DEG (MM.)(MM.) (WAVES) STREHL (MM.) (MM.) (WAVES) STREHL X 0.00 0.00 0.0000000.039535 0.0022 1.000 0.000000 0.002739 0.0026 1.000 Y 1.00 0.00−0.003775 0.000046 X 0.50 0.00 −0.000803 −0.021277 0.0008 1.000−0.000004 0.002739 0.0011 1.000 Y 1.00 0.00 0.002507 0.000013 X 0.700.00 −0.001107 −0.021449 0.0017 1.000 0.000018 0.002739 0.0019 1.000 Y1.00 0.00 0.002472 −0.000040 X 1.00 0.00 0.000754 0.014220 0.0011 1.000−0.000008 0.002739 0.0011 1.000 Y 1.00 0.00 −0.001178 0.000014 COMPOSITERMS FOR POSITION 1: 0.00178 WL = 193.3074 193.3069 193.3065 193.306193.3057 193.3055 193.3046 nm WTW = 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 Polychromatic rmswavefront aberrations and Strehl ratio- Wafer to SLM: BEST INDIVIDUALFOCUS BEST COMPOSITE FOCUS SHIFT FOCUS RMS SHIFT FOCUS RMS FIELD FRACTDEG (MM.) (MM.) (WAVES) STREHL (MM.) (MM) (WAVES) STREHL X 0.00 0.000.000000 0.171069 0.0173 0.988 0.000000 0.133909 0.0173 0.988 Y 1.000.00 −0.003792 0.000067 X 0.50 0.00 −0.000805 0.110031 0.0172 0.988−0.000011 0.133909 0.0172 0.988 Y 1.00 0.00 0.002513 0.000034 X 0.700.00 −0.001119 0.109673 0.0172 0.988 0.000009 0.133909 0.0172 0.988 Y1.00 0.00 0.002497 −0.000020 X 1.00 0.00 0.000711 0.144938 0.0172 0.988−0.000021 0.133909 0.0172 0.988 Y 1.00 0.00 −0.001111 0.000034 COMPOSITERMS FOR POSITION 1: 0.01723 Reduction in Strehl ratio betweenmonochromatic and polychromatic cases represents the contrast loss fromchromatic aberrations over the spectral band WL = 193.3074 193.3069193.3065 193.306 193.3057 193.3055 193.3046 WTW = 11 29 60 100 69 17 5

TABLE 3C Monochromatic and Polychromatic Wavefront Aberrations andCorresponding Strehl Ratios of the Overall Embodiment 300 of FIG. 3A.Monochromatic rms wavefront aberrations and Strehl ratio - Wafer tofield framing plane: BEST INDIVIDUAL FOCUS BEST COMPOSITE FOCUS SHIFTFOCUS RMS SHIFT FOCUS RMS FIELD FRACT DEG (MM.) (MM.) (WAVES) STREHL(MM.) (MM.) (WAVES) STREHL X 0.00 0.00 0.000000 0.041154 0.0228 0.9800.000000 −0.002362 0.0236 0.978 Y 1.00 0.00 0.000279 0.000268 X 0.500.00 −0.000064 0.017039 0.0056 0.999 −0.000064 −0.002362 0.0062 0.998 Y1.00 0.00 0.000207 0.000209 X 0.70 0.00 −0.000053 0.009362 0.0112 0.995−0.000054 −0.002362 0.0113 0.995 Y 1.00 0.00 0.000121 0.000124 X 1.000.00 0.000235 −0.083257 0.0165 0.989 0.000230 −0.002362 0.0197 0.985 Y1.00 0.00 −0.000371 −0.000364 COMPOSITE RMS FOR POSITION 1: 0.01670Variation in best individual focus shows the residual field curvature WL= 193.3074 193.3069 193.3065 193.306 193.3057 193.3055 193.3046 WTW = 00 0 1 0 0 0 Polychromatic rms wavefront aberrations and Strehl ratio -Wafer to field framing plane: BEST INDIVIDUAL FOCUS BEST COMPOSITE FOCUSSHIFT FOCUS RMS SHIFT FOCUS RMS FIELD FRACT DEG (MM.) (MM.) (WAVES)STREHL (MM.) (MM.) (WAVES) STREHL X 0.00 0.00 0.000000 0.075248 0.02890.967 0.000000 0.032115 0.0295 0.966 Y 1.00 0.00 0.000307 0.000296 X0.50 0.00 −0.000073 0.051169 0.0186 0.986 −0.000074 0.032115 0.01880.986 Y 1.00 0.00 0.000236 0.000238 X 0.70 0.00 −0.000067 0.0437880.0212 0.982 −0.000068 0.032115 0.0212 0.982 Y 1.00 0.00 0.0001510.000154 X 1.00 0.00 0.000213 −0.047939 0.0248 0.976 0.000208 0.0321150.0270 0.972 Y 1.00 0.00 −0.000337 −0.000330 COMPOSITE RMS FOR POSITION1: 0.02453 Variation in best individual focus shows the residual fieldcurvature Reduction in Strehl ratio between monochromatic andpolychromatic cases represents the contrast loss from chromaticaberrations over the spectral band WL = 193.3074 193.3069 193.3065193.306 193.3057 193.3055 193.3046 WTW = 11 29 60 100 69 17 5

TABLE 4A Description of Optical Train of the Embodiment 400 of Fig. 4.ELEMENT RADIUS OF CURVATURE APERTURE DIAMETER NUMBER FRONT BACKTHICKNESS FRONT BACK GLASS OBJECT INF 1.0000 ‘Water’ 2 INF  −8.2303 CX6.4351 6.5264 14.3201 ‘SiO2’ 0.1435 3 S(1)  −18.8001 CX 6.7222 22.582527.5686 ‘SiO2’ 0.1435 4 S(2)  −30.0784 CX 8.5273 35.6362 39.1897 ‘SiO2’0.1435 5 S(3)  −38.4857 CX 9.4617 44.1620 46.6075 ‘SiO2’ APERTURE STOP46.6075 0.2869 6  166.3155 CX S(4) 10.0143 49.0041 49.4058 ‘SiO2’23.5239 7  173.2270 CX −162.8488 CX 7.3700 54.0004 53.9884 ‘SiO2’ 9.48108 −154.6474 CC  −86.1299 CX 8.2671 52.1115 52.1002 ‘SiO2’ 0.2096 9 A(1) −138.6302 CX 3.7500 51.9125 52.2633 ‘SiO2’ 22.8744 10  71.0710 CX 535.1092 CC 6.8489 49.1146 48.1285 ‘SiO2’ 57.9463 11  −54.3888 CC A(2)29.9969 22.0496 17.8257 ‘SiO2’ 3.7833 12  −53.1248 CC  −32.8926 CX8.9225 18.0343 19.6876 ‘SiO2’ 11.1925 13  465.4200 CX A(3) 7.347319.3068 19.1032 ‘SiO2’ 42.9871 DECENTER (1) 14 INF −43.0547 C-1 REFL 15 −140.8055 CX A(4) −29.9980 26.7472 29.2969 ‘SiO2’ −34.1845 16  59.5352CC  −59.2154 CC −30.0000 24.5566 26.7873 ‘SiO2’ −13.0243 17 A(5) −37.3543 CC −2.5824 31.4897 31.9462 ‘SiO2’ −38.4141 18 73.1939 CC38.4141 56.3111 REFL 19  −37.3543 CC A(6) 2.5824 35.8758 35.8710 ‘SiO2’13.0243 20  −59.2154 CC  59.5352 CC 30.0000 31.4408 30.6241 ‘SiO2’34.1845 21 A(7) −140.8055 CX 29.9980 40.2935 38.4955 ‘SiO2’ 43.0547DECENTER( 2) 32.6896 20.0054 22 A(8)  69.7865 CC 16.6301 21.7570 23.4641‘SiO2’ 71.5676 23 A(9)  −47.3231 CX 10.8672 45.7252 51.0228 ‘SiO2’787.7006 24 INF −50.0000 237.4629 REFL DECENTER (3) 25 INF 150.0000 C-2REFL 26 1020.7892 CX −440.5935 CX 44.9407 291.7619 292.3223 ‘SiO2’86.9784 27 −282.8413 CC −409.0313 CX 35.0000 267.7683 276.3214 ‘SiO2’457.4266 DECENTER (4) 28 INF −100.0000 C-3 REFL 29 754.6155 CC 361.7155218.6596 REFL 30 −813.6819 CC  98.9319 CC 19.7149 39.3317 49.4552 ‘SiO2’3.9591 31 −981.5537 CC  −89.9106 CX 20.0000 50.0401 60.6842 ‘SiO2’79.9587 32 −793.5946 CC −101.2088 CX 23.0169 119.0006 121.4729 ‘SiO2’IMAGE DISTANCE = 100.0000 IMAGE INF 118.6588 APERTURE DATA DIAMETERDECENTER APERTURE SHAPE X Y X Y ROTATION C-1 RECTANGLE 19.328 8.0000.000 9.000 0.0 C-2 RECTANGLE 367.770 40.000 0.000 −160.000 0.0 C-3RECTANGLE 312.758 60.000 0.000 −140.000 0.0 aspheric constants$Z = {\frac{({CURV})Y^{2}}{1 + \left( {1 - {\left( {1 + K} \right)({CURV})^{2}Y^{2}}} \right)^{1/2}} + {(A)Y^{4}} + {(B)Y^{6}} + {(C)Y^{8}} + {(D)Y^{10}} + {(E)Y^{12}} + {(F)Y^{14}} + {(G)Y^{16}} + {(H)Y^{18}} + {(J)Y^{20}}}$K A E C D ASPHERIC CURV E F G H J A(1) −0.788036E−02 0.00000000−1.60680E−06 −5.71603E−10 −7.95421E−13  1.61828E−15 −6.85053E−18 1.52500E−20 −2.15168E−23  1.70023E-26 −5.74938E−30 A(2)  0.03316180.00000000 −1.12080E−05  3.59225E−08 −8.31387E−11 −8.58999E−13 3.01032E−15  6.97263E−18  0.00000E+00  0.00000E+00  0.00000E+00 A(3)−0.01807134 0.00000000  2.44282E−07 −5.88773E−09  1.90874E−11 5.73753E−15  0.00000E+00  0.00000E+00  0.00000E+00  0.00000E+00 0.00000E+00 A(4)  0.01839301 0.00000000 −2.40018E−06  1.13544E−09−1.07358E−12  6.87182E−16  0.00000E+00  0.00000E+00  0.00000E+00 0.00000E+00  0.00000E+00 A(5)  0.206863E−02 0.00000000 −1.78913E−05 1.98684E−09  2.29867E−11 −5.17522E−14  5.67365E−17 −2.60781E−20 0.00000E+00  0.00000E+00  0.00000E+00 A(6)  0.206863E−02 0.00000000−1.78913E−05  1.98684E−09  2.29867E−11 −5.17522E−14  5.67365E−17−2.60781E−20  0.00000E+00  0.00000E+00  0.00000E+00 A(7)  0.018393010.00000000 −2.40018E−06  1.13544E−09 −1.07358E−12  6.87182E−16 0.00000E+00  0.00000E+00  0.00000E+00  0.00000E+00  0.00000E+00 A(8)−0.02941486 0.00000000 −9.82126E−07 −6.38630E−09  2.82716E−11−1.59923E−13  0.00000E+00  0.00000E+00  0.00000E+00  0.00000E+00 0.00000E+00 A(9) −0.02047184 0.00000000  7.86549E−08  1.18534E−10−1.77852E−13  1.38406E−16  0.00000E+00  0.00000E+00  0.00000E+00 0.00000E+00  0.00000E+00 SPECIAL SURFACES (SPS types) QCN SURFACES x -(Y/NRADIUS)**2$Z = {\frac{({CURV})Y^{2}}{1 + \left( {1 - {\left( {1 + K} \right)({CURV})^{2}Y^{2}}} \right)^{1/2}} + {x^{2}*\left( {{({QC4}){Q_{0}^{con}(x)}} + {({QC6}){Q_{1}^{con}(x)}} + \ldots + {({QC30}){Q_{13}^{con}(x)}}} \right)}}$ASPHERIC CURV NRADIUS (C2) K (C1) QC4 (C4)  QC6 (C5)  QC8 (C6)  QC10(C7)  QC12 (C8) QC14 (C9) QC16 (C10) QC18 (C11) QC20 (C12) S(1)−0.375089E−01  0.117087E+02  0.000000E+00  0.781699E+00 −0.111327E+00−0.752173E−02  0.189059E−02 −0.165226E−02  0.132330E−03 −0.400665E−04−0.154608E−04  0.381404E−05 ASPHERIC CURV NRADIUS (C2) K (C1) QC4 (C4) QC6 (C5)  QC8 (C6)  QC10 (C7)  QC12 (C8) QC14 (C9) QC16 (C10) QC18 (C11)QC20 (C12) S(2) −0.108880E−01  0.189520E+02  0.000000E+00  0.179588E+00−0.243968E+00  0.129881E+00 −0.269953E−01  0.723456E−02 −0.134297E−02 0.138474E−03 −0.167556E−03  0.920416E-05 ASPHERIC CURV NRADIUS (C2) K(C1) QC4 (C4)  QC6 (C5)  QC8 (C6)  QC10 (C7)  QC12 (C8) QC14 (C9) QC16(C10) QC18 (C11) QC20 (C12) S(3) −0.123451E−01  0.220374E+02 0.000000E+00  0.673702E+00  0.232005E+00 −0.718514E−01  0.108260E−01−0.224315E−03 −0.855525E−03  0.320809E−04  0.801810E−04 −0.195269E−04ASPHERIC CURV NRADIUS (C2) K (C1) QC4 (C4)  QC6 (C5)  QC8 (C6)  QC10(C7)  QC12 (C8) QC14 (C9) QC16 (C10) QC18 (C11) QC20 (C12) S(4)−0.810124E−02  0.230971E+02  0.000000E+00  0.101446E+01  0.356972E−01−0.207860E−02  0.217109E−02  0.423426E−03  0.307139E−04 −0.463203E−05 0.1681E9E−05 −0.616318E−06 DECENTERING CONSTANTS DECENTER X Y Z ALPHABETA GAMMA D(1) 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000 45.0000 0.0000 0.0000 (BEND) D(2)0.0000 0.0000 0.0000 45.0000 0.0000 0.0000 (RETU) D(3) 0.0000 0.00000.0000 −45.0000 0.0000 0.0000 (BEND) D(4) 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000 −45.00000.0000 0.0000 (BEND)

TABLE 4B Monochromatic and Polychromatic Wavefront Aberrations andCorresponding Strehl Ratios of the Overall Embodiment 400 of FIG. 4.Monochromatic rms wavefront aberrations and Strehl ratio - Wafer tofield framing plane: BEST INDIVIDUAL FOCUS BEST COMPOSITE FOCUS SHIFTFOCUS RMS SHIFT FOCUS RMS FIELD FRACT DEG (MM.) (MM.) (WAVES) STREHL(MM.) (MM.) (WAVES) STREHL X 0.00 0.00 0.000000 0.007905 0.0078 0.9980.000000 −0.002581 0.0079 0.998 Y 1.00 0.00 −0.000181 −0.000182 X 0.500.00 0.000030 −0.006455 0.0033 1.000 0.000030 −0.002581 0.0033 1.000 Y1.00 0.00 −0.000074 −0.000074 X 0.70 0.00 −0.000008 −0.002172 0.00610.999 −0.000008 −0.002581 0.0061 0.999 Y 1.00 0.00 0.000032 0.000032 X1.00 0.00 −0.000080 −0.009028 0.0040 0.999 −0.000080 −0.002581 0.00410.999 Y 1.00 0.00 0.000132 0.000133 COMPOSITE RMS FOR POSITION 1:0.00565 Variation in best individual focus shows the residual fieldcurvature - much reduced when compared with Dioptric design WL =193.3074 193.3069 193.3065 193.306 193.3057 193.3055 193.3046 nm WTW = 00 0 1 0 0 0 Polychromatic rms wavefront aberrations and Strehl ratio -Wafer to field framing plane: BEST INDIVIDUAL FOCUS BEST COMPOSITE FOCUSSHIFT FOCUS RMS SHIFT FOCUS RMS FIELD FRACT DEG (MM.) (MM.) (WAVES)STREHL (MM.) (MM.) (WAVES) STREHL X 0.00 0.00 0.000000 0.041360 0.01880.986 0.000000 0.030520 0.0189 0.986 Y 1.00 0.00 −0.000182 −0.000182 X0.50 0.00 0.000030 0.026927 0.0175 0.988 0.000030 0.030520 0.0175 0.988Y 1.00 0.00 −0.000074 −0.000074 X 0.70 0.00 −0.000008 0.030934 0.01810.987 −0.000008 0.030520 0.0181 0.987 Y 1.00 0.00 0.000032 0.000032 X1.00 0.00 −0.000081 0.023475 0.0175 0.988 −0.000081 0.030520 0.01750.988 Y 1.00 0.00 0.000134 0.000134 COMPOSITE RMS FOR POSITION 1:0.01801 Reduction in Strehl ratio between monochromatic andpolychromatic cases represents the contrast loss from chromaticaberrations over the spectral band WL = 193.3074 193.3069 193.3065193.306 193.3057 193.3055 193.3046 nm WTW = 11 29 60 100 69 17 5

In one specific implementation of the projection optical system of theinvention, the catadioptric projection lens is made to include first andsecond portions (such as, for example, portions I and II of theembodiment 200) such that the second portion is structured as acatadioptric optical system forming, in light received from thecatadioptric illumination relay lens, an intermediate optical image at alocation between elements of the second portion. In such specificimplementation, the first portion of the catadioptric projection lens isstructured as a dioptric optical unit disposed to transfer light fromthe location of the intermediate image to an image plane of theprojection optical system to form of the intermediate optical image atthe image plan. Such specific catadioptric projection lens is configuredto satisfy a condition of

$\begin{matrix}{{A < \frac{\beta_{I}}{\beta_{T}} < B},} & (1)\end{matrix}$

where β_(I) denotes a magnification of the first portion of thecatadioptric projection lens, β_(T) denotes a magnification of the wholecatadioptric projection lens, A=4, B=30. As would be appreciated by aperson of skill in the art, this implementation possesses an unexpectedoperational advantage over a catadioptric projection lens of a relatedart in that it avoids a situation of

${\frac{\beta_{I}}{\beta_{T}} > 30},$

when the required value of the NA of the second portion is too large forpractical purposes such that correction of aberrations of thecatadioptric projection lens becomes prohibitively expensive. At thesame time, by keeping the ratio of

$\frac{\beta_{I}}{\beta_{T}}$

above 4, the magnification value of the first portion is keep frombecoming so impractically large as to make it cost prohibitive tocorrect aberrations of the projection optical system. It may bepreferred to set A=5 and B=25 for high optical performance of theprojection optical system; and even more preferred to set B=21.

In another related specific implementation of the projection opticalsystem of the invention, the catadioptric projection lens is structuredto include first and second portions as discussed above and to satisfy acondition of

$\begin{matrix}{{C < \frac{\beta_{II}}{\beta_{T}} < D},} & (2)\end{matrix}$

where β_(I) denotes a magnification of the first portion of thecatadioptric projection lens and C=6 and D=20. As would be appreciatedby a person of skill in the art, this implementation possesses anunexpected operational advantage over a catadioptric projection lens ofa related art in that it avoids a situation when the total length of thesecond portion is prohibitively large from the operational standpointand when the magnification of the first portion is too high. (Suchimpractical situation corresponds to D>20 and is accompanied byaberrations of the projection optical system that are too high tocorrect at operationally reasonable cost.) At the same time, thisspecific implementation is operationally advantageous over the similarsystem characterized by

$C < \frac{\beta_{II}}{\beta_{T}}$

where C<6, for which the value of NA of the second portion is so highthat the resulting aberrations are impractical to correct. For highoptical performance of the projection optical system of the invention,it may be preferred to set C=5; to improve the operationalcharacteristics even further, the lower limit of condition (2) may beset to 7.7. yet in a more preferred embodiment, the upper limit D may beset to 14.

In yet another related specific implementation of the projection opticalsystem of the invention, the catadioptric projection lens is structuredto include a first and second portions as discussed above and to satisfya condition of

|β_(II)|<|β_(I)|,  (3)

to ensure high optical performance in conjunction with the digitalscanner as disclosed above.

The following Table 5 illustrates non-limiting examples pertaining toconfigurations of the catadioptric projection lens of the projectionoptical system of the invention:

TABLE 5 Condition Example A Example B Example C Example D |β_(I)| 0.10.1 0.1 0.1 |β_(II)| 0.2 0.2 0.05 0.05 |β_(T)| 0.02 0.02 0.005 0.005|β_(I)|/|β_(T)| 5 5 20 20 |β_(II)|/β_(T)| 10 10 10 10

An example of forming an optical image with an embodiment of theprojection optical system according to the invention is schematicallyillustrated by a flow-chart 1000 in FIG. 10. At step 1010, radiationthat has been transmitted through a catadioptric illumination relaysystem structured according to an embodiment of the invention asdiscussed above is received with an SLM. At step 1020, radiationreceived by the SLM through a catadioptric projection lens of theembodiment is reflected by the SLM to form an image such that chromaticerrors induced in the image are at least partially reduced. As a resultof such reflection, an intermediate image of an object irradiated withthe radiation can be formed within the catadioptric projection lens (forexample, between the elements of such lens). The intermediate image isfurther re-imaged, at step 1030, through the catadioptric projectionlens and fluid or liquid to form as image of the object at the imageplane. Optionally, at step 1040, a beam defined by the radiationreceived at the SLM, is digitally scanned (for example, with a digitalscanner system used in conjunction with the embodiment). The radiationat hand may have a bandwidth on the order of 1 picometer, in oneimplementation from about half a picometer to several picometers (forexample, 5 picometers).

It is notable, that a second portion of a catadioptric projection lensof an embodiments of the invention includes the combination of the twonegative lenses 16, 17 (see, for example, the portion labeled II in theembodiment of FIG. 2A or that of FIG. 4, the projection lens of which isstructured in a similar fashion) and, for that reason, is configureddifferently from similar portion that related art has been utilizing todate. In particular, catadioptric projection lenses of the projectionsystems of the related art include only one, single lens in place of thecombination of lenses 16, 17 used herein. Such single lens is known tosome as a Schupmann lens, which conventionally, is a singlenegative-power meniscus lens element placed close to a concave mirror ofthe projection lens. According to the idea of the present invention, twosuch lens elements are used instead, which provides the proposeddesigned with more degrees of freedom for correction of aberrations, inparticular spherical aberration and coma. (For proper comparison of theoperation of the embodiments of FIGS. 2A, 2B and 4 with projectionsystems of FIGS. 1A-1C and 3A-3C that are structured conventionally, thecombination of two negative-power meniscus elements in used in each ofthe corresponding catadioptric projection lens. See also data in theTables.)

The embodiments discussed above may be employed with an exposureapparatus that is disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 8,089,616,and U.S. Patent Application Publications Nos. 2013/0278912,2013/0314683, 2013/0222781, and 2014/0320835. The disclosure of each ofthese patent documents is incorporated by reference herein. Thediscussed embodiments may be also utilized in a polarizationilluminating optical system that is disclosed in, for example, U.S.Patent Application Publications Nos. 2013/0146676, 2014/0211174, and2014/0233008. The disclosure of each of these patent documents is alsoincorporated by reference herein.

It is appreciated that either of the illumination optical system, or theprojection optical system of the embodiments discussed above, and theexposure apparatus is produced by assembling various subsystemsincluding the constituent elements and units recited in the appendedclaims so that the predetermined mechanical accuracy, the accuracy ofelectrical and optical performance of the resulting assembly aremaintained. In order to ensure such accurate operational performance,various operational adjustments may be carried out before and/or afterthe assembly has been completed, including adjustments for achieving therequired optical accuracy for various optical elements and systems,adjustments for achieving the required mechanical accuracy for variousmechanical systems, and adjustments for achieving the requiredelectrical accuracy for various electrical systems. The steps ofassembling various subsystems into the exposure apparatus include, forexample, establishing mechanical connections among the components,establishing wiring connections among the electric circuits, andestablishing piping connections effectuating air pressure circuits amongthe various subsystems. The assembling process of the individualsubsystems is performed before the assembly of various subsystems intothe overall exposure apparatus. When the assembly of the exposureapparatus is completed, the overall adjustment procedure is effectuatedto secure the accurate operational performance of the entire exposureapparatus. It is also appropriate for the exposure apparatus to beproduced in a clean room in which, for example, the temperature and thepurity of environment are managed.

Embodiments of the present invention are not limited for use with anexposure apparatus configured to produce a semiconductor device, but arealso widely applicable, for example, to an exposure apparatus configuredto produce a liquid crystal display device formed on a rectangular glassplate, or a display apparatus such as the plasma display, as well as anexposure apparatus configured to produce an the image-pickup device (forexample, a CCD), a micromachine, a thin-film magnetic head, and a DNAchip. Embodiments of the present invention can also be employed at theexposure step to be used when the mask (such as a photomask and/or areticle) formed with the mask-pattern is produced photolithographically.

In the embodiments described above, a used light source may beconfigured, in a specific case, to emit UV light at a wavelength of 193nm and a spectral bandwidth on the order of 0.1 pm (measured asfull-width-half-maximum, or FWHM, value). Generally, however, anotherappropriate laser light source may be employed, including, for example,an ArF excimer laser source for supplying the laser beam at 193 nm, anKrF excimer laser light for supplying the laser beam at 248 nm, an F₂laser light source for supplying the laser beam at 157 nm, the pulsedlaser light source such as the Ar₂ laser (with output wavelength of 126nm), a Kr₂ laser (with output wavelength of 146 nm), the g-ray source(wavelength of 436 nm), an YAG laser cooperated with a light-harmonicgenerator, and an ultra-high pressure mercury lamp configured togenerate at 365 nm. As disclosed in the U.S. Pat. No. 7,023,610, it isalso appropriate to use a harmonic wave as the vacuum ultraviolet light(such harmonic wave being obtained by i) amplifying a single wavelengthlaser beam in the infrared or visible spectral region produced by afiber laser or a DFB semiconductor laser with, for example, a fiberamplifier doped with erbium and/or ytterbium and ii) performing thewavelength conversion into the ultraviolet spectral region by usingprinciples of non-linear optics, for example utilizing a nonlinearoptical crystal. The disclosure of U.S. Pat. No. 7,023,610 isincorporated by reference herein.

References made throughout this specification to “one embodiment,” “anembodiment,” “a related embodiment,” or similar language mean that aparticular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connectionwith the referred to “embodiment” is included in at least one embodimentof the present invention. Thus, appearances of these phrases and termsmay, but do not necessarily, refer to the same implementation. It is tobe understood that no portion of disclosure, taken on its own and inpossible connection with a figure, is intended to provide a completedescription of all features of the invention.

It is also to be understood that no single drawing is intended tosupport a complete description of all features of the invention. Inother words, a given drawing is generally descriptive of only some, andgenerally not all, features of the invention. A given drawing and anassociated portion of the disclosure containing a descriptionreferencing such drawing do not, generally, contain all elements of aparticular view or all features that can be presented is this view, forpurposes of simplifying the given drawing and discussion, and to directthe discussion to particular elements that are featured in this drawing.A skilled artisan will recognize that the invention may possibly bepracticed without one or more of the specific features, elements,components, structures, details, or characteristics, or with the use ofother methods, components, materials, and so forth. Therefore, althougha particular detail of an embodiment of the invention may not benecessarily shown in each and every drawing describing such embodiment,the presence of this detail in the drawing may be implied unless thecontext of the description requires otherwise. In other instances, wellknown structures, details, materials, or operations may be not shown ina given drawing or described in detail to avoid obscuring aspects of anembodiment of the invention that are being discussed.

The invention as recited in claims appended to this disclosure isintended to be assessed in light of the disclosure as a whole, includingfeatures disclosed in prior art to which reference is made.

While the description of the invention is presented through the aboveexamples of embodiments, those of ordinary skill in the art understandthat modifications to, and variations of, the illustrated embodimentsmay be made without departing from the inventive concepts disclosedherein. The invention should not be viewed as being limited to thedisclosed examples.

What is claimed is:
 1. A projection optical system configured to form animage on an image plane, comprising: a first optical system having aconcave mirror, said first optical system configured to form anintermediate optical image; a second optical system configured as adioptric optical system disposed to form an image of the intermediateimage on the image plane; said first and second optical systemsaggregately configured to satisfy a condition of${4 < \frac{\beta_{I}}{\beta_{T}} < 30},$ wherein β_(I) denotes amagnification of the second optical system and β_(T) denotes amagnification of the projection optical system.
 2. A projection opticalsystem according to claim 1, further comprising a catadioptricillumination relay lens and a spatial light modulator (SLM) positionedto receive light from the catadioptric illumination relay lens andreflect said light towards the first and second optical systems.
 3. Aprojection optical system according to claim 1, wherein said projectionoptical system is configured to satisfy a condition of${6 < \frac{\beta_{II}}{\beta_{T}} < 20},$ wherein β_(II) denotes amagnification of the first optical system.
 4. A projection opticalsystem according to claim 1, wherein said projection optical system isconfigured to satisfy a condition of |β_(II)|<|β_(I)|, wherein β_(II)denotes a magnification of the first optical system.
 5. A projectionoptical system according to claim 1, wherein said first optical systemis configured such that said light directed through the projectionoptical system towards the image plane passes through a first group oflenses including a first negative lens, then through a second group oflenses, and then is reflected with a concave mirror to form a reflectedbeam transmitted through the second group of lenses.
 6. A projectionoptical system according to claim 5, wherein the second group of lensesincludes second and third negative lenses immediately adjacent to oneanother, a concave surface of the second negative lens facing away fromthe concave mirror, a concave surface of the third negative lens facingthe concave mirror.
 7. A projection optical system according to claim 6,wherein the second group of lenses further comprises a positive lensbetween the first group of lenses and the third negative lens.
 8. Aprojection optical system according to claim 1, wherein the secondoptical system comprises at least two positive lenses disposedimmediately adjacent to one another such as to receive light directlyfrom the intermediate image.
 9. A projection optical system according toclaim 1, wherein the second optical system further comprises at leasttwo negative lenses disposed immediately adjacent to one another betweensaid at least two positive lenses and the image plane.
 10. A projectionoptical system according to claim 9, wherein the second optical systemfurther comprises a light-condensing lens unit between the at least twonegative lenses and the image plane.
 11. A projection optical systemaccording to claim 10, wherein every lens of the light-condensinglens-unit is a positive lens.
 12. A projection optical system accordingto claim 1, characterized, in operation with light having a centralwavelength of about 193.3 nm and a spectral bandwidth of about 1picometer, a first Strehl ratio at the central wavelength and a secondStrehl ratio across the spectral bandwidth, both the first and secondStrehl ratios exceeding 0.95.
 13. A projection optical system accordingto claim 1, configured to form the image with a reduction ratio of atleast
 50. 14. An exposure apparatus configured to expose a substrate tolight delivered thereto through liquid from an object, said exposureapparatus comprising: a stage configured to support of a substratedefining the image plane; and a projection optical system comprising: afirst optical system having a concave mirror, said first optical systemconfigured to form an intermediate optical image; a second opticalsystem configured as a dioptric optical system disposed to form an imageof the intermediate image on the image plane; said first and secondoptical systems aggregately configured to satisfy a condition of${4 < \frac{\beta_{I}}{\beta_{T}} < 30},$  wherein β_(I) denotes amagnification of the second optical system and β_(T) denotes amagnification of the projection optical system; wherein said exposureapparatus is configured to form said image of the intermediate image onthe substrate with light transmitted from an object through theprojection optical system and liquid between the projection opticalsystem and the substrate.
 15. An exposure apparatus according to claim14, further comprising an illumination relay lens disposed to illuminatethe object with light passing therethrough.
 16. An exposure apparatusaccording to claim 15, wherein said illumination relay lens includes acatadioptric illumination relay lens.
 17. A method for manufacturing adevice, the method comprising: exposing a substrate with light deliveredthereto from an object through liquid with the use of the projectionoptical system that comprises a first optical system having a concavemirror, said first optical system configured to form an intermediateoptical image; a second optical system configured as a dioptric opticalsystem disposed to form an image of the intermediate image on the imageplane; wherein said first and second optical systems are aggregatelyconfigured to satisfy a condition of${4 < \frac{\beta_{I}}{\beta_{T}} < 30},$  wherein β_(I) denotes amagnification of the second optical system and β_(T) denotes amagnification of the projection optical system; and developing saidsubstrate after said exposing.
 18. A projection optical systemconfigured to form an image on an image plane, the projection opticalsystem comprising: a first optical system including a concave mirrorpositioned to form an intermediate optical image; a second opticalsystem configured as a dioptric optical system disposed to form an imageof the intermediate image on the image plane; said first and secondoptical systems aggregately configured to satisfy a condition of${6 < \frac{\beta_{II}}{\beta_{T}} < 20},$ wherein β_(II) denotes amagnification of the first optical system and β_(T) denotes amagnification of the projection optical system.
 19. A projection opticalsystem according to claim 18, further comprising a catadioptricillumination relay lens and a spatial light modulator (SLM) positionedto receive light from the catadioptric illumination relay lens andreflect said light towards the first and second optical systems.
 20. Aprojection optical system according to claim 18, wherein said projectionoptical system is configured to satisfy a condition${4 < \frac{\beta_{I}}{\beta_{T}} < 30},$ wherein β_(I) denotes amagnification of the second optical system.
 21. A projection opticalsystem according to claim 20, wherein said projection optical system isconfigured to satisfy a condition of |β_(II)|<|β_(I)|.
 22. A projectionoptical system according to claim 18, characterized, in operation withlight having a central wavelength of about 193.3 nm and a spectralbandwidth of about 1 picometer, a first Strehl ratio at the centralwavelength and a second Strehl ratio across the spectral bandwidth, boththe first and second Strehl ratios exceeding 0.95.